COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN
A bit too much religion here, as there is in so much of this
kind of apocalyptic discussion.
Every bad or undesirable thing going on seems thrown into
the pot to suggest humans are creating a sixth great extinction.
We do change the planet, but I'm not sure that such change
isn't "in the scheme of things."
The planet itself has changed immensely, time and time again,
as the primordial super-continent broke up and pieces drifted apart, as great
meteors fell from space, as volcanism reached high levels, and as the incoming
solar radiation levels changed.
I would love to preserve every interesting or beautiful
species, but I am afraid that is not possible, any more than it is possible to return
mammoths and sabre-toothed cats.
Life itself is about change, continuing, relentless, and
unstoppable change. It is called evolution. We as a people wouldn't even be
recognizable to our ancestors of only a few hundred thousand years ago.
And I think it likely we will not be recognized by our
future generations, as humans become part electronic or part genetically
modified or even replaced by robots.
